Direct answers to the questions we hear most often from Ontario commercial, industrial and multi-residential property owners, about MPAC, the Assessment Review Board and how BrookLex charges.
What is a property assessment notice?
A property assessment notice is what MPAC sends when it sets or changes the value it uses to calculate your property taxes. Most owners do not get a new one every year: MPAC only mails a notice when something changes, such as new construction, a change in use or an ownership transfer. The type of notice you receive, annual, change, amended, supplementary or omitted, determines which appeal deadline applies. See key dates for the deadline that goes with each type.
Is there a province-wide MPAC reassessment in 2026?
No. 2026 property taxes are still calculated using assessed values based on January 1, 2016, and no new province-wide reassessment has been announced (MPAC, the assessment cycle). MPAC continues to issue notices for individual properties that change, but the general valuation date has not moved.
How often does MPAC assess my property?
Ontario normally moves to a new province-wide valuation date on a set cycle, but that cycle has been paused and assessments are still based on January 1, 2016 values. Outside of a general reassessment, MPAC updates an individual property’s value only when something about it changes, such as new construction or a change in use, and mails a notice at that time.
Is MPAC’s assessment accurate?
MPAC’s assessment is an estimate, built from market data, income and expense information and comparable sales, and estimates can be wrong for a specific property. The most common sources of error on commercial and industrial files are the market rent, vacancy allowance, operating expenses or capitalization rate MPAC assumed, or the comparable sales it used. Checking those inputs against your own property’s facts is how you find out whether the number is right. See how MPAC values income properties.
What is a Request for Reconsideration?
A Request for Reconsideration (RfR) is a free request to MPAC to review your property’s assessment before you appeal it (MPAC, Request for Reconsideration and Appeals). MPAC aims to respond within 180 days. For a commercial, industrial or multi-residential property, filing an RfR is optional: you can appeal straight to the Assessment Review Board instead. See RfR or straight to the Board.
What is the deadline for an MPAC Request for Reconsideration?
The deadline to file a Request for Reconsideration is generally the same as the deadline to appeal that year’s assessment: March 31 for the annual assessment, or the window that applies to your specific notice. If MPAC then issues a decision you disagree with, you have 90 days from the date it is mailed to appeal to the Assessment Review Board (MPAC).
What is the property assessment appeal deadline?
For most business properties, the deadline is March 31 of the tax year: appeal the annual assessment directly to the Assessment Review Board, or file a Request for Reconsideration first, by that date. A change, amended, supplementary or omitted notice instead carries its own 120-day deadline from the date on the notice.
How do I appeal an MPAC property assessment?
You file an appeal with the Assessment Review Board, paying the required fee per roll number, either directly or after a Request for Reconsideration decision from MPAC. The Board then sets a Schedule of Events covering disclosure and, if the file does not settle, a hearing. How an assessment appeal works walks through each stage.
My commercial property taxes went up for 2026. Does that mean my assessment went up?
Not necessarily. Your tax bill depends on both your assessed value and the tax rate your municipality sets for your property class, and either one can move on its own. If your assessed value is unchanged from last year, a higher bill points to a rate change, not an assessment issue, and an appeal would not address it. Compare the assessed value on your notice to last year’s before assuming the assessment is the cause.
What is MPAC’s Property Income and Expense Return (PIER)?
PIER is MPAC’s annual request for rent, vacancy and expense information from owners of income-producing commercial, industrial and multi-residential properties. Filing it is mandatory under section 11 of the Assessment Act (MPAC, Property Income and Expense Return). In 2026, requests were mailed May 27 and due July 22.
What is a section 357 or 358 application?
It is an application to your municipality to cancel, reduce or refund property taxes, for reasons such as a building that became unusable through damage, demolition or fire, a change in use, or an assessment error (MPAC, filing for a property tax adjustment with your municipality). The deadline is the last day of February of the following year. See tax refunds and rebates.
Is there a vacancy rebate for commercial property in Ontario?
A section 357 or 358 application to your municipality is the route for tax relief tied to a vacant or unusable building, rather than a separate standing rebate program. What qualifies and how much relief is available depends on your municipality’s own decision on the application.
What does a commercial property tax consultant do?
A commercial property tax consultant reviews your MPAC assessment, checks the inputs MPAC used against your property’s actual facts, and files and argues a Request for Reconsideration or an appeal to the Assessment Review Board on your behalf. At BrookLex, that work is led by a licensed paralegal with the Law Society of Ontario.
Do you need a lawyer to appeal a property tax assessment?
No. The Assessment Review Board allows an owner to represent themselves, or to be represented by a licensed paralegal, lawyer or authorized agent. BrookLex’s appeals are handled by a licensed paralegal with the Law Society of Ontario. See James Brook.
How much do property tax consultants charge?
Most files are billed hourly, which keeps costs predictable. Contingency fees, where the fee is a share of the tax savings achieved, are available for qualifying properties. Some files, for example where a municipality is appealing to increase an assessment and we are defending it, are not suited to contingency and are handled hourly. See fees for how BrookLex charges.
Is there a guaranteed property tax appeal success rate?
No, and be cautious of any consultant who states one. Every file depends on its own facts: the property, the assessment method MPAC used, and the evidence available. What can be assessed upfront is whether the numbers behind your assessment look right, which is the starting point for deciding whether an appeal is worth pursuing. Contact us for a look at your file.